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Barnard College

Barnard College's course descriptions average 67.0 on the 100-to-0 ruler: clearly left of center. Across all 100 schools, the average is 67.5, so Barnard College reads 0.6 points further right.

Liberal (100)center (50)Conservative (0)
Barnard College: 67.0 (likely range 65.9 to 68.1) All 100 schools: 67.5 each other school in the comparison

Where its courses fall

3%Far left92–100
39%Left75–91
43%Center-left59–74
8%Center42–58
1%Center-right26–41
2%Right9–25
3%Far right0–8
328 plotted courses (the ones with a political subject). 100 = far left, 50 = the average American, 0 = far right. Subject places what a course studies, not the side it takes.

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Subject places what a course studies, not the side it takes. A course on slavery or the Holocaust lands far right and a course on Marx or the Soviet Union lands far left, whether the course praises, criticizes or simply describes it.

Underlined: words the model quoted from the description when we asked it, after scoring, to explain its score.

Furthest-left subjects

AFRS BC3160 · Fanon's Psychology of the Oppressed100

Ethnic & African American Studies

Frantz Fanon's ideas have been influential for decades among theorists, practitioners, and activists alike. This seminar is focused on understanding Fanon's particular perspective on the psychology of the oppressed and its relevance for…

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AFRS GU4000 · HARLEM AND MOSCOW100

Ethnic & African American Studies

Prerequisites: NA The Russian Revolution of 1917 is widely acknowledged as a watershed moment in the global struggle for worker's rights, but it also played a considerable role in the fights against racism and colonialism (Lenin considered…

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ENGL UN3262 · English Literature 1500-1600100

English & Comparative Literature

(Lecture). This course aims to introduce you to a selection of sixteenth- century English verse and prose, from major works such as More's Utopia, Spenser's Faerie Queene and Sidney 's Defense of Poesie, to more occasional but illuminating…

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Furthest-right subjects

CPLT BC3108 · Nazism in Performance0

English & Comparative Literature

Explores the cultivation of national and transnational performances as a significant force of National Socialism, at the same time as challenging the notion of "Nazi Theatre" as monolithic formation. The core of the course inquires into the…

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HIST BC3301 · Science and Fascism0

History

In 1942, the American sociologist Robert Merton described modern science as an intellectual enterprise that can produce truthful and factual knowledge only if inspired by democratic values. Yet such concept contrasted starkly with the…

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HIST BC3587 · Remembering Slavery: Critiquing Modern0

History

Representations of the Peculiar Institution. 4 points. BC: Fulfillment of General Education Requirement: Historical Studies (HIS). Prerequisites: Permission of the instructor. Enrollment limited to 15. Preregistration required. The…

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Why this number, in plain words

Political lean of course descriptions. Average Framing score (0 = far right, 50 = center, 100 = far left) of the scored courses in the group.

50 is the survey-anchored center of US adults on each issue (the "moderate" place of the ANES/GSS/PRRI seven-label ruler), not the cohort midpoint; scores above 50 read leftward, below 50 rightward.

Counted: courses with a Framing score (categories L/R/B/C). The likely range (95% interval) is 65.9 to 68.1; a comparison whose range overlaps this one is not a reliable difference.

  • Most course descriptions carry no political lean at all and are not in this average; the "share described from the left" view counts them.
  • Readings are of catalog description text, not of teaching, syllabi or individual professors.
Barnard College by department (share of courses described from the left)
DepartmentLeft-framed shareCourses
Women's & Gender Studies47.4%78view
Anthropology33.3%36view
Sociology32%75view
Ethnic & African American Studies24.5%49view
Religious Studies21.1%57view
History19.1%162view
Art & Art History16.7%72view
English & Comparative Literature12.6%151view
Political Science11.3%80view
Philosophy3.9%77view
Economics3.1%65view
Psychology1.9%106view

Lean (mean Framing score) is not published per department within a school; only the left-framed share is. Department rows carry no interval.

Details: exact rows, definitions and method
NameMetricValue95% intervalnscored
Barnard Collegemean_bias_score67.065.9 – 68.11,008175
All 100 schoolsmean_bias_score67.567.4 – 67.7124,29010,124
Formula
SUM(bias_score) / COUNT(bias_score)
Interval
normal approximation: mean +/- 1.96 * sd / sqrt(n), sample sd (n-1); undefined when n < 2
Model / prompt / snapshot
gpt-5.6-sol · r12 (2026-10-16-le49-r12) · 6df50b10
Metric caveats
Scored courses only (L/R/B/C); N and I carry no score and are excluded, so n here is smaller than the group's course count. Scores are model readings of catalog description text against a fixed anchored definition, not teaching or syllabi. The interval covers sampling noise in the mean only; it does not represent model reading error. Every value carries a `method` label: exact_rows or histogram_midpoint.

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